WINSTON Churchill's grandson has thrown his weight behind the Evening Telegraph's campaign to save the identity of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Nigel Adams, the prospective parliamentary candidate for Rossendale and Darwen, said that the QLR's uniqueness must be retained when he met with Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Britain's greatest wartime leader.

Mr Soames, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, met Mr Adams following his speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth on the current state of the UK's defence capability.

They discussed the Government's proposals which may see the disbandment or merger of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Mr Soames said: "Nigel has made me aware of the strong opposition in East Lancashire to the Government proposals and also of the campaign launched by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph to preserve the unique identity of the QLR and I wholeheartedly support the Telegraph's campaign.

"At this time of considerable danger from terrorism at home and abroad, and major military deployments overseas, we wholly oppose the cuts by amalgamation or disbandment of any regiment and judge such a proposal to be a great mistake."

Nigel Adams added: "We are against any proposals that would cut infantry numbers or indeed damage the core values of the regimental system brought about by the Government's policy failures. Such regimental values have been at the heart of the QLR's proud history and we are hopeful that the Government will listen to not just political pressure, but to the voices of Lancashire people as depicted through the pages of the Evening Telegraph and save our Regiment."

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph has launched a campaign to save the county's only surviving regiment.

To date we have received nearly 2100 coupons from members of the public from across East Lancashire - and from as far afield as Australia - backing our campaign.